Besides Lula, 27 governors also take office on New Year’s Day

In addition to the presidential inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, governors of Brazil’s 27 states will also take office today to serve four-year terms.

By the end of this morning, Clécio Luís (Amapá), Jerônimo Rodrigues (Bahia), Elmano Freitas (Ceará), Carlos Brandão (Maranhão), Romeu Zema (Minas Gerais), Rafael Fonteles (Piauí), Cláudio Castro (Rio de Janeiro), Fátima Bezerra (Rio Grande do Norte), Tarcísio de Freitas (São Paulo), and Wanderlei Barbosa (Tocantins) had already taken their oath of office.

Eleven governors are expected to attend Lula’s ceremony in Brasília.

Tarcísio de Freitas, who became governor of São Paulo — the country’s most populous state — thanked former President Jair Bolsonaro for his “boldness” in launching Mr. Freitas as a candidate. 

The new governor served under Mr. Bolsonaro as infrastructure minister and may be the best-positioned politician to keep Bolsonarism alive in the years to come. Earlier in December, however, Mr. Freitas said he was “never a hardcore Bolsonarist” and called for cooperation between his administration and the federal government.

“São Paulo and Brazil must walk together,” he said, in a speech before the state legislature.

Mr. Bolsonaro traveled to Miami on Friday, two days before the end of his term. He avoided attending Lula’s inauguration — whose victory he never formally recognized — and handing him the presidential sash. 

Of the 27 governors initiating their terms, 18 were re-elected. Eleven ran for office as allies of Lula’s, with 14 running against the new president’s group. Two remained neutral. Alliances can be fluid in Brazil, and Lula will certainly try to have as many governors on his side as he can.

In the last four years of the Bolsonaro government, the relationship with the governors was marked by instability – especially with the states in the Northeast region, traditionally more aligned with Lula. 

The main friction occurred during the peak of the pandemic. Mr. Bolsonaro accused governors of plunging the country into an economic abyss by enacting Covid restrictions, and tried to undermine their moves. Tensions grew higher when governors sought to bypass the federal administration in purchasing coronavirus vaccines.

This is the last time that governors and the president will take office on the same day. As of 2026, the president will be sworn in on January 5. Governors, on January 6.

One of the reasons for the change approved by Congress this year is the difficulty for governors to attend the presidential inauguration. The proximity to New Year’s Eve also hinders popular participation.

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